In less than two weeks, more than 500 students will graduate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. While I teach marketing strategy and branding, each year I provide some financial advice to the graduates. If you follow my blog this will be familiar. Some things change over the years, but the core concepts remain. Save […]

One of the benefits of being a professor at Kellogg is that you get to participate in student events. Recently the Brew n Q club invited me to join them for a beer tasting. I shared some thoughts on branding in the beer industry to kick things off, then we sampled the beer. The event […]

Yesterday United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from an overbooked flight. Other passengers captured the incident on video. You can watch it here. A Huge Problem It is hard to overstate how bad this is for United. Let’s review what happened: – United boards too many people and won’t offer enough money to entice someone to take a later […]

This week the Kellogg School of Management officially opened the doors of its new global hub. The building is spectacular, with stunning views of Lake Michigan, a soaring atrium and state of the art rooms. I held my first classes in the facility on Monday morning. You can read more about it here. I was […]

Some brand combinations make a lot of sense. The Intel brand has long been a good fit with Dell; Cruise giant Carnival is a reasonable partner with the Houston Texans; Lufthansa works with German luxury luggage brand Rimowa. When I managed Bulls-Eye BBQ Sauce, we partnered with Burger King on a BBQ Burger. All of these pairings […]

This week politicians and lobbyists are debating the future of Obamacare. Republican lawmakers have proposed a revision that makes few people happy; Democrats are unanimously against it. Many Republicans don’t like it either. You can read more about it here. A few days ago I had the opportunity to talk with Professor Craig Garthwaite, my […]

Last week The New York Times launched a bold new marketing campaign featuring print ads, outdoor ads and television spots, including an ad that ran on the Oscar’s on Sunday. You can read more about it here. I have three thoughts about the new effort. It is about time. The Times last ran television ads […]

By Tim Calkins and Derek D. Rucker Visit the Kellogg Super Bowl Ad Review website to see this post with all the ads included. Click here. A remarkable Super Bowl! The game itself was spectacular, Lady Gaga rocked the half-time show and advertisers aired an impressive collection of spots. Two overall themes emerged this […]

On Sunday, the Patriots and Falcons will take to the field in Super Bowl LI. Each team will be looking to pick up yardage and put points on the board in hope of emerging the victor. It should be a terrific battle. The football game isn’t the only competition we will see. This year’s Super […]

The Super Bowl is approaching fast. Advertisers are putting the finishing touches on each spot and starting to roll out teaser campaigns. Some brands have already released their 2017 ads. This will be the 12th year of the Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review. On Super Bowl Sunday, a panel of about 60 Kellogg MBA students […]

Recently I posted my list of brands to watch in 2017. The list included Emirates, Tesla, GoPro, Wells Fargo, Amazon and P&G. I noted, however, that the most interesting and important brand to watch was clear: Donald Trump. Defining the Trump Brand I think everyone is confused about the Trump brand. What does it stand […]

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Welcome to StrongBrands

The website of Tim Calkins - helping people use marketing strategy and branding to build strong and profitable businesses.

Tim is a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management where he teaches marketing strategy, biomedical marketing and strategic marketing decisions in the full-time, part-time and executive MBA programs. He is co-academic director of Kellogg's branding program.